Former teacher to change plea in sex abuse case

Friday

Aug 18, 2017 at 5:57 PM

By Nick Morgan Mail Tribune

A former Crater High School teacher will change his plea next week in a case alleging he sexually abused an underage student.

Jeffrey Robert Zundel, 54, who until his October 2015 arrest taught humanities at Crater Renaissance Academy, will change his plea next Friday, Jackson County Circuit Court records show. He is married to Medford School District Chief Academic Officer Michelle Zundel, who was previously principal of Ashland High School.

Zundel previously pleaded not guilty to 11 felony counts of second-degree sexual abuse relating to multiple alleged instances of sexual intercourse and sexual contact with a victim younger than 18 between March and June 2015. He also faces a misdemeanor charge of third-degree sexual abuse alleging he touched the victim's breasts.

A three-day trial scheduled for next week has been called off, after Zundel's defense lawyers filed notice Wednesday that their client "will change his plea" on Aug. 25, according to court records. Further information on the plea change won't be available until the hearing.

Central Point School District removed Zundel from the classroom in October 2015, and he was fired Dec. 22 following an internal investigation that found "gross neglect of duty and unfitness for duty," previous reports show.

Zundel is also a named defendant in a civil lawsuit filed by the alleged victim in U.S. District Court in Medford, which claims that the school district had prior knowledge of inappropriate sexual behavior involving Zundel and the then-17-year-old student.

Lawyers representing Zundel and lawyers representing the school district have previously denied wrongdoing in the lawsuit, and a civil trial is currently slated for August 2018.